Signature Hot Dog Rules, Rugby Star Ilona Maher Makes SI Swimsuit Debut, And Let's Name Our Favorite Drummers
Come on in and make yourself comfortable; it’s time for a Thursday edition of Nightcaps!
And it’s no regular Thursday. It’s the start of the real first week of the college football season (FSU fans probably wish Week 0 didn’t count, but alas, it does).
My UCF Knights are in action tonight against the New Hampshire Wildcats, so as soon as I call it a day for work, I'm going to plop on the couch and start working in a new ass groove for this football season.
I'm thinking of switching things up this year and going to the end of the couch. It's a more straight-on TV viewing angle. I had to play hurt a few weeks last season with a stiff neck thanks to the other end of the couch. I remember a few Sundays last season where by about hour five of seven hours of Scott Hanson-led commercial-free football I was really having to gut it out to the end.
Maybe the new spot will fix that. I will report back later this year.
Anyway, we've got some good stuff to get to on this edition of Nightcaps, so let's get right to it, starting with…
Bears Rookie Rome Odunze Has His Own Hot Dog But Is That Too Early?
Yesterday, I took a look at a story about Chicago Bears rookie Rome Odunze being bestowed the great honor of having a hot dog named after him.
I’m not going to lie, when I saw that they had decided to plop some Italian Beef sammich accouterments on top of a jalapeño cheddar dog, I was pricing flights to the Windy City.
However, there was some debate over whether or not a rookie who has yet to play a single regular season down at the NFL level is signature dog-worthy.
That’s a compelling question. I don’t have a problem with it, but I can understand why others might. I’d also be interested to hear how other players feel about this. Do DJ Moore or Keenan Allen harbor any hard feelings over getting passed over for signature dogs? Does Caleb Williams feel slighted that he didn’t receive dog honors?
I’m pretty sure this won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be kind of hilarious if the Chicago Bears locker room imploded and it was all because of who did and did not get a signature dog?
I think it would, and I’m kind of a Bears fan (I’m one of those annoying people with two teams because I grew up in Pennsylvania so I liked the Eagles, but have family from Illinois, so I also followed the Bears).
But what say you? Does a player need to meet any criteria before they are immortalized in their stadium's concession stands? Send your thoughts to me: mattreigleoutkick@gmail.com
Ukrainian Tennis Star Marta Kostyuk Is An Innovator When It Comes To Beating The Heat
We talked about it yesterday with a brutal interception in the stands, but the US Open is happening right now, and it is a hot one.
That's tough for athletes and spectators alike, but at least fans can cool off by pouring Honey Deuces into their gullets.
Players can't do that (actually, maybe they can. It's not a performance enhancer) so they have to find some creative ways to beat the heat, which is precisely what Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk did.
It's not just helping to keep her core temperature in check, it's a fashion statement!
Throw a goldfish in that bad boy and plop it on a model's head and it would look right at home in one of those stupid fashion shows in Milan.
It appears to have worked because Kostyuk won her match over Great Britain's Harriet Dart.
Ilona Maher Adds Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model To Her Resume
I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite moments of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris was the US women’s rugby team snagging the nation’s first medal in the sport in a century thanks to a stunning last-second try to win bronze.
One of the breakout stars of that team is Ilona Maher, who had a big social media following before the Games, but now she’s north of 3 million followers on Instagram.
She's known for her brutal stiff arms that will make your sternum hurt just watching them.
Now, the woman who has been responsible for more bruises than a klutzy produce salesman is taking her talents from the field (pitch? Whatever the hell they call it in rugby) to the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
A quick thing about the SI Swimsuit issue: remember when being on the cover was a massive deal? It still is, so congrats to Maher, but doesn't it feel like they put out several dozen covers now?
That seems like a move to beef up magazine sales which we all know are non-existent. Still, I'm not sure who is going to go out and buy up all of the different versions like they're Pokémon cards.
At least not today. I'm not ruling out the idea that I would've done this in my youth.
And They Called It… Trash Panda Looooooove
Move over Paris, there's a new City of Love and its name is Huntsville, Alabama, home to one of the best-named teams in baseball, the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
Meet Georgia-Claire and Gus (at least I think those are their names). They appear to be a couple of Trash Pandas faithful and were at the ballpark this weekend when Georgia Claire got the nod to appear in one of those between-inning games.
Now, the video starts a little late, but it looks like Georgia-Claire was handed an L in whatever trivia or follow-the-shuffling-bobbleheads game she wound up playing and lost out on a Christian Moore signed ball and some tickets to Tribute Night.
Poor Georgia Claire was going to be bumming hard after finding out she missed out on those prizes, but it turns out that she had a consolation prize waiting for her.
It's no Christian Moore signed baseball, but congratulations to the happy couple!
That was a creative way to pop the question, but what would have happened if, by some miraculous stroke of luck, she won the game? Would he still have gone ahead with it even though she'd probably be too excited about her new Christian Moore signed ball and Tribute Night tickets to notice the ring?
I guess that was the risk our guy Gus was willing to take, and sometimes you've to risk it for love.
No word on the date for the ceremony, but I do hear that they're asking for a Christian Moore signed baseball on their wedding registry.
Oh, and if the Trash Pandas' mascot, Sprocket — yeah, I looked up his name — doesn't officiate their wedding free of charge, I will have lost the last shred of trust I have in minor league baseball stadium between-inning engagements.
Let's Talk Top 5 Drummers
Yesterday one of our OutKick meetings had a side discussion about who are your favorite drummers. I can't remember how it started (as I so often am, I was busy admiring my own handsomeness in the Zoom chat) but it's an interesting question that I think we should talk about.
Now, I think it's more interesting to list, not of the "best" or "most talented drummers,' but instead, it's a list of the drummers that you enjoy (this is so that Lars Ulrich, Meg White, and Ringo Starr can be put in play if you so desire).
So, here are mine in no particular order:
- Neil Peart: I mean, listen to a Rush song and I think this is pretty self-explanatory. From a technical perspective, I don't think you'd get too many arguments about him being the best rock drummer of all time. There are too many specific examples to list, but I think the most well-known are those drum fills in the middle of Tom Sawyer. Hell, I might have to take a second to go do some air drumming just thinking about it.
- Nicko McBrain: Iron Maiden's tub-thumper has been in the lineup since 1983, and the first thing you heard from him was the intro to the opening track of the album Piece of Mind, "Where Eagles Dare," and if you know it, you're aware that it's an iconic drum fill. Nicko is a legend and he also owns a very good BBQ joint in South Florida. I recommend the ribs with a side of Aces High fries, Powerslave slaw, and/or When The Wild Wind Blows baked beans (I did not make up those names).
- Mike Portnoy: His work in Dream Theater is brain-melting, but I really love his band The Winery Dogs with Richie Kotzen and Billy Sheehan. He still flashes those technical chops that we all know he has from the prog-metal world, but his playing on Winery Dogs records is a little more '70s power-trio styled,
- Jimmy Chamberlain: Smashing Pumpkins are an incredible band and everyone knows it, but I don't think people always appreciate how insanely good Jimmy Chamberlain is. I mean, just watch him play the song "Doomsday Clock" off of Zeitgeist at sound check and try to tell me he doesn't deserve a spot among rock music's greats.
- Jean-Paul Gaster: JP is the drummer for Clutch, a band that you may not have heard of, but if you have, you probably love them. One thing I dig about Clutch is their versatility. They've got sludge-metal tunes, and stoner rock songs, but then have songs heavily influenced by old-school blues and ‘70s rock. That's a lot of range and JP does it all.
There's my list (although I would like to add honorable mentions Danny Carrey of Tool, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, and Tim "Herb" Alexander of Primus), so feel free to send me yours too!: mattreigleoutkick@gmail.com
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That's it for another edition of Nightcaps, and since I'm turning things back over to Amber for Friday's edition, have a great Labor Day weekend!